Crean discusses class of 2016 signees on radio show

  • 01/13/2016 2:04 pm in

On his weekly radio show from the Holiday Inn in Bloomington this past Monday, Tom Crean discussed the three class of 2016 recruits who have signed National Letters of Intent with the Hoosiers: Grant Gelon, Curtis Jones and De’Ron Davis.

Devonte Green, who committed to the program on Saturday, cannot sign until April 13 and was not discussed on the show. Here are Crean’s comments on the three signees and the class as a whole:

On Gelon:

“Well Grant was here with his family yesterday (for the Ohio State game), and outside of the one game he played at Warren Central where he just didn’t get many looks, he’s been playing fantastic. I think the other night he had six 3s in the first quarter, and he is just an absolute lights out shooter.

“When he gets strength and can do even more with his footwork, because of that strength, when he gets into the college environment and learns the speed of that game he’s going to be fantastic. He’s one of those guys that keeps backing up, and he can make tough shots. And what I like about all three of them, and in this case Grant, he’s very well coached. He comes from a very good system. Clint Swan (Crown Point coach) does an excellent job.”

On Jones:

“Curtis was here the other night for the game Tuesday night against Wisconsin. Every time I’ve seen him, I’ve seen him once since we’ve signed him, and he looks bigger every time, he looks taller. He just put a triple-double up the other night in a game in Kentucky. He is improving. He has shown great leadership on his team. Thomas (Bryant) was that emotional leader for them a year ago too. Curtis is one of the guys on that team that’s had to pick up the slack there and I think he’s doing it.

“When you’re getting triple-doubles against the competition that they face, it’s really good. They’re playing other high level high school and prep school teams every night. I’m impressed with his speed and athleticism; I’m impressed with his quickness. He gets to the glass. He really changes speeds. Like all of them, as they get stronger they’re going to keep getting better and better.”

On Davis:

“De’Ron is playing really well. And when Coach (Chuck) Martin saw him in Las Vegas before Christmas in the Tarkanian Classic, they won four straight games, they won the championship against Bishop Gorman against another highly ranked inside player, De’Ron was fantastic. And we’re really excited about him.”

On the class as a whole:

“I’m excited about all of their upsides and am proud to see what they’re doing on their teams right now. They have great attitudes, they keep in touch with one another. They’re always checking in with our recruiting, they follow the games. It’s one thing to give them a good luck text or ‘how’d you do here?’ Or ‘what’d you think there?’ When they’re the ones putting them out to us, then that’s even better and shows the ownership they have in us, and I think they believe in what we’re trying to do.”

Quotes transcribed by Andrew Vailliencourt.

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